After
by Jlove32
Summary: A one-shot set just after the end of The Opening Night Excitation. Some hand-holding, some cuddling, showers, then what?


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of The Big Bang Theory or the characters I'm writing about. You know Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady are the geniuses responsible for all the goodness, and Warner Bros are hella smart to keep funding them.

 _ **Author's Note:** This story picks up a couple hours after the end of The Opening Night Excitation. It is seriously fluffy Shamy for which I make no apologies. Sheldon may be a bit OOC, but then again only a short time ago the entirety of Opening Night would have been OOC, so I contend we're already "down the rabbit hole," so to speak. I think we've seen enough growth and change in him that this conversation is not an impossibility._

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Amy lay in her darkened bedroom listening to her boyfriend breathing. She could tell he hadn't fallen asleep, especially since he kept shifting position slightly every couple of minutes.

"Sheldon, are you uncomfortable?" She asked. "Do you need another pillow? Or blanket?"

"No thank you," he said, an odd timbre to his voice.

Amy had been concerned that this might be an issue for him, when he said he had planned to stay the night.

"Sheldon," she said gently, "if you don't think you're going to be able to fall asleep here I don't mind taking you home so you can sleep in your own bed."

"I'm sorry," he said after a long pause, "I'm preventing you from sleeping aren't I? Would you prefer it if I went home?"

Amy smiled though it was nearly too dark for him to see it, the only illumination coming from the moonlight slanting through her blinds. "Sheldon, I'll be fine. I just want you to be comfortable," was her careful response. Of course she didn't **want** him to leave, but the last thing she wanted was for him to feel trapped after all he had done for her, for them, tonight.

Another moment passed before he replied, his voice sounding small. "I, um, I would prefer to stay, if that is still ok."

Amy's heart clenched in her chest; she hadn't intended to make him feel unwelcome, she had only been trying to be sensitive to his needs. "Oh Sheldon, of course it's ok..." she sighed, reaching out in the half-light to grip his hand.

"Good...good..." Sheldon breathed in response. He gave her hand a quick squeeze before moving over to Amy, taking her completely by surprise. He pressed his body along the full length of hers, wrapping his right arm around her waist and pulling her closer, his head settling into the hollow of her neck.

It took Amy a moment to steady her breathing, his actions and intimate embrace having shocked the air right out of her lungs. She cupped the back of his head with her hand before her fingers started sliding gently through his hair, causing him to shiver against her. "Sheldon, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything, right?" Amy paused a moment, steeling herself for his response. She had mentally prepared for this. Knowing Sheldon as she did she knew that, despite this night being his idea, there was every chance he might struggle with his decision, either before, preventing it from occurring at all, or afterwards. Yet when the time actually came he had seemed so much more comfortable and in control than she ever could have imagined...

She recalled the way he had uncharacteristically been the one to calm her own nerves. He was surprised to even hear she was nervous, going so far as to ask her why. In retrospect the idea was laughable. Sheldon, who had had such an aversion to the activity nearly his entire life had asked **her** why she was nervous? Perhaps the girls were right about how much he had changed since their breakup. His choice of gift, the flowers on her kitchen table and his current hold on her body seemed to suggest that was the case. Of course she also knew from the deep conversations they had shared last weekend, wrapped in each other's arms healing hearts with kisses and words, but she still found it almost too surreal to believe.

Sheldon had not answered her question. _He must not be struggling too much_ , she reasoned, or he'd hardly have put them into their current position. She closed her eyes, enjoying his warmth and the strength of his arms. She was drifting off when she heard him.

"Amy, did you know?"

"Hmmm? She asked groggily, trying to get context and shaking herself back awake.

"Before we...did... **that**...did you know it would be so...so..." his voice faltered as he lifted his head from her neck and propped himself up on his left elbow to look her in the eyes.

Amy paused, waiting for him to find the word. As none seemed to be forthcoming she ran down her list of what might be bothering him. Truth be told there was one thing she had expected Sheldon to have an issue with immediately afterward. Despite the fact that she had been on birth control for a few years to regulate her cycles, she anticipated that Sheldon would want to use a condom as well. Not only would they be doubly protected, but it could help him deal with the bodily fluid issue, but he had said he was confident in her assertions that she took her birth control pill faithfully at the same time each day, and that he would prefer not to use one if she was agreeable.

"Um...messy?" she asked tentatively, trying to complete the sentence that perhaps he was too embarrassed to finish.

"Complete," he stated at the same time.

Amy furrowed her brow, looking at him. Of all the words she thought he might have chosen, that one wasn't even in the running.

"Messy?" he asked her, eyebrows raised. "Amy, is that really the primary description that comes to your mind for what recently occurred between us?"

Amy quickly shook her head. "No, no, of course not Sheldon, I - I was just trying to imagine what you might be thinking...and apparently doing a bad job of it. But, uh, what do you mean, 'complete'?"

He sighed lightly, but kept their eye contact, one hand reaching up to brush a stray hair from in front of her eyes. He tucked it behind her ear, his hand lingering a moment, then sliding lightly down her neck before coming to rest back on her waist. Amy shivered slightly at his touch. Whatever had gotten into him, she was enjoying this closeness immensely. He gazed at her for another long moment and she was just about to ask him again what he meant when he closed his eyes and started speaking. "When I decided I was ready to take this step with you, Amy, it was because I love you."

"I know that, Sheldon." She wasn't sure where he was going with this, but surely he knew that she knew that he loved her, right? This wasn't an attempt to prove it, was it? She felt slightly sad at that thought, her voice betraying her.

It was as if he could read her mind. His blue eyes opened once again to stare intently into her sparkling green ones. "I don't mean that I was doing it to prove my love to you, that would be ridiculous. What I mean is that because I love you I wanted to share this with you, I wanted to stop holding this back from us, because that's what I was doing out of fear."

Amy tried to keep her eyes from bugging out of her head. She had known, or at least suspected, this is what had been holding him back for quite a while, but she didn't expect him to admit it so easily. "That is beautiful Sheldon, thank you for telling me." Her eyes were tearing up but she hoped he didn't notice - she didn't want him to get scared of her being weepy and emotional every time he shared his feelings...that would do her no favors in the future.

Sheldon continued on. "I think…" he cast his eyes about, as if physically searching for the right words, "I just didn't realize it would be so intimate." Amy furrowed her brow at this. _Huh?_

He was growing a bit exasperated at his inability to say what he meant. "Yes, **physically** of course I knew it was an intimate act. But I mean…you know… **feelings**." No change in Amy's expression. _Oh boy._ The next words came out in a rush. They had been in his head, but letting them out of his mouth was another thing altogether. "Amy, I was afraid that I would lose myself by making love with you, but instead I feel like I gained a piece of you. **Oh dear lord** , now I really sound like a hippie, don't I? Ignore me; my brain must still be flooded with goofy hormones from orgasm." He dropped his arm and let his head flop down onto pillow.

Amy rested her head only inches from his, mirroring his posture, resting her hand on his neck. Her breath hitched in a small sob that she failed to contain. He opened his eyes to see her, tears freely streaming from her eyes. "What is it?" he asked slightly alarmed.

"Making love," she whispered.

"What?" he stared at her, uncomprehending.

"You called it making love," she clarified, and he instantly relaxed.

"Oh. Well…yes. That's the point I was trying to make. I think I was expecting us to have coitus, but that word doesn't seem to adequately describe what happened. I guess…I just never knew that term actually meant something. I never knew there was a difference."

Amy thought her heart might burst with love for this wonderful man before her. She flashed him a dazzling smile, contrasting with her tear-streaked cheeks. "I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment, Dr. Cooper." His heart flip-flopped in his chest and Amy noted his eyebrows lifted when she used his title. He always did love that. She felt giddy, joy filling her from her head to her toes. Good grief, what was this amazing feeling? She was content, relieved, overjoyed, awestruck. Love. Definitely love.

Sheldon shocked her again in that moment by wrapping his arm tightly around her waist again, then rolling them until he hovered over her. "Are you sure you don't need to repeat the experiment to draw your own conclusions, Dr. Fowler?"

 _Oh my._ "What happened to repeating the experiment on an annual basis?" Amy quizzed him.

"Oh, I guess you're right," he responded, dropping her gaze. Amy silently cursed herself. _What was she thinking?_ But Sheldon continued, looking back up at her and biting his lip before he spoke. "The Birthday Coitus Experiment by definition can only be an annual occurrence. But...I'd like to propose a new, related experiment, Dr. Fowler. I call it the Daily Lovemaking Experiment," he declared with a wink.

"D-daily?" Amy stammered. _Was it even possible to feel like he had made her feel every day? Would she survive if he tried? Hoo._

"Ok, ok, " he agreed, "on a schedule to be determined by the research team. Hmmm, maybe I can write one up tomorrow..." he mused to himself before looking to her for approval. "Proposal accepted?" Sheldon smiled at her widely before his face became serious. "In all honesty Amy, I was a bit...overwhelmed when I said that just after we finished our earlier activities. I was considering everything that happened and what it meant. It wasn't until I was in the shower that I realized what I was feeling, and not until I lay here with you could I put it into words. But yes, I would very much like to make love with you again, as soon as you're feeling ready."

"I'd like that too, Sheldon." Amy replied happily, pulling him down into a tight embrace. Oh how she loved this man. _Best birthday EVER!_ she thought dreamily as his lips found her neck once again.

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 _ **A/N:** Thank you so much for taking the time to read my little story. Reviews are always appreciated and let me know if you enjoy the kinds of things my brain comes up with. Frankly, they also make me happy and make me want to write more! :-)_


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